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George Tunis and Ernest Leatherbury on protective whiteboards in schools

On Monday evening, “Piers Morgan Live” invited Hardwire founder George Tunis and University of Maryland Eastern Shore Police Chief Ernest Leatherbury to discuss the new implementation of bulletproof whiteboards on the UMES campus. Tunis began by describing Hardwire’s whiteboard capabilities:

“We make all levels of armor. So, the armor that we’ve outfitted many schools with is NIJ Level 3A. So, that’s exactly the same armor that would be in a police vest.”

The boards, 18 x 20 inches and under four pounds, are tested and durable and UMES purchased 200 for this school year. But, how would this technology hold off a major assault by a random attacker?

“When [Adam Lanza] burst in at Sandy Hook, the teachers had nothing. I mean, they literally had no armor,” said Tunis. Now, he argued, that students and faculty will be in a better position to defend themselves.

Police Chief Leatherbury agreed:

“I don’t view this as militarizing our university. I see it as a protective step to ensure the safety of our community in the unlikely event that someone would come on this campus with the intent to harm our students, staff and our faculty.”

CNN Political Commentator Ben Furguson took a seat on "The Grill." He noted that while bulletproof doors and whiteboards seem beneficial, mental health and gun acquisition must be considered in order to prevent mass shootings:

“I still go back to the core of this. We have to start doing a better job of going after the black market and going after people that break gun laws and putting them in jail for a long time.”

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harryr11

While watching Piers Morgan last evening discuss security products that could make schools safer, it occurred to me that there is a completely different approach to the gun control issue that just might resonate more effectively.

The protective armor business sector is gearing up to offer products specific to school buildings. From Kevlar backed white boards to armor plated classroom doors to bullet proof glass, there are a whole host of products now available to help secure students and staff from a gunman that has managed to enter a school building. Much of the dialog about gun restrictions has been confined to discussions of individual rights to own weapons versus the general public’s right to be safe and secure from rampaging gunmen.

Maybe the discussion should shift to the expense to the taxpayer of one approach versus the other. If the individual homeowner, the individual voter believes in free and unfettered ownership and use of guns then he must be prepared to pay the cost of retrofitting each and every school building, each and every public building with protective armor plated classroom doors, every white board replaced with Kevlar backing, every piece of glass replaced with bullet proof glass, each and every building fitted with double door entrances and active electronic security systems and the more attractive targets have one or more security guards actively patrolling the hallways. Or the individual taxpayer can opt for some restrictions on gun ownership to forgo the significant and ongoing increase in property and income taxes required to protect children & staff.

Essentially, how much does the taxpayer want to pay for the free & unfettered right of whatever weapons they want their fellow citizens to own? Or, in other words, you, individual homeowner, your annual property taxes are going up $3,500 at a minimum to pay for the fitting out of the community schools with protective armor against the possibility someone with free and unfettered access to guns will invade your school and attack your children. How much are you, the taxpayer, the voter, willing to pay each day, each week, each month, each year so that your fellow citizens can own and use as many of whatever weapons they should take a fancy to? Baring an increase in taxes then the school football program gets cancelled, the track program, the whole athletic program for the entire school district is terminated to pay for the security retrofit.

I’ll bet that when the individual taxpayer is presented with the argument in those economic terms they will quickly and overwhelmingly support restrictions on the ownership of guns. It’s one thing to talk about individual gun rights in the abstract and quite another thing to put it in stark economic terms to the individual taxpayer, the individual voter.

In my opinion bullet proof doors along with a trained guard or teacher with a gun,is the best defense,against a deranged dangerous intruder...at least to buy time until the cops get there...This is logical and is not what Morgan calls a militarized zone,which as usual is just ridiculous. Many private schools for the rich and privileged uses armed security,and there has never been any shootings in one of those schools and they certainly don't look like a military zone. Ben Furguson was spot on which Morgan had no intelligent reply.

Bullet-proof white board, doors, windows, desks? Talk about putting the cart a mile before the horse.

Such improvements are a "gun rights tax" on the rest of us. Further, the company operators said the most affordable models would NOT stand fire from an AR-15. CNN essentially did an infomercial for these companies for free. Newtown was a well-to-do area with a surveillance system to control entry into the school after 9 AM. Lanza's AR shot right through it. If a wealthy town in CT can't reasonably fortify its schools, what about everyone else?

It's time for the stupidity to end. Get the assault weapons off the streets. Bullet proofing discussions would not be necessary.

Ah, there that nasty word ,Connecticut ..Ah CT.–where Winchester Firearms are made in North Haven .And the company pays Taxes to Connecticut ,,and there is Colt Manufacturing UAW local union outfit in Hartford CT..and pays taxes to the state every year ..Then there is Mossberg Firearms in New Haven CT..who pays taxes to the state of Connecticut..every year..And the state Governor has the gall & the nerve to blame all gun owners in the other 49 states
for there Sandy Hook Massacre which was not stopped by there $24.95 "No Gun Zone" sign ...yeah,,right ,its all about the GUns in America and Wayne LaPierre s NRA .... I would laugh,,but I have a heart . Daniel Boone

Laugh at yourself Boone, you're poorly informed. The following are the top 100 taxpaying companies in Connecticut, with Ruger coming in a wimpy 96th place out of 100. http:// www . jrcwebexchange.com/shared/ctmag/site/ct100.asp

The state does better on office machinery, insurance, aerospace, biotech, casinos, and financial services. There are 95 enormous tax payers, not including private citizens, ahead of Ruger on that list. So firearms companies don't make or break the state. Even if all firearms companies left, there would be plenty of money to go around.

And no, the Newtown school sign wasn't "$24.95", it was a closed circuit camera and video monitoring system that remotely allowed access to the building. Unfortunately, no one ever anticipated a responsible gun owner like Nancy Lanza would leave her guns within arm's reach of a disturbed child.

There are around 300 million guns in circulation in this country...many of them are what is incorrectly called assault rifles...If complete gun control were to be enacted tomorrow with every gun banned, those 300 million would still be there. Few people are killed in this country with any type of rifle and by far most shootings are done by thugs shooting other thugs with illegal handguns. And according to the FBI more are killed with blunt objects then with any type of rifle. The civilian type of AR semi automatic rifle what is being called an assault rifle is a 223 caliber...which in comparison to most other rifles is a small caliber used in small game hunting..and in many states it's not even legal to hunt deer because a 223 is to small of a caliber...If Sandy Hook had a person who was trained and armed chances are the evil deranged Lanza wouldn't have even got through those doors...and the chance's would have been even better if those doors were bullet proof.

If all semi-auto guns are functionally equivalent, why not given everyone a 9mm and call it a day? Why bother outfitting the police and military with expensive rifles and guns? We could save tax dollars with basic weapons and minimal ammo. (Of course, everyone knows more damage can be done with an AR-15 compared to a 9mm in an active shooter situation).

According to the FBI, firearms are the overwhelming weapon of choice for homicide. At the moment no one can agree on restrictions to prevent mass killings. Perhaps we should be focusing on handgun limitations instead?

I'm not willing to pay more taxes to armor schools. I'd sooner pay more taxes for college prep courses, music/art, sports, and quality staff.

Criminal thugs shooting other thugs with Illegal handguns account for most of the shootings in this country,.. that's a fact. And responsible gun owners who legally own a guns is not the problem...It's very simple... criminals and wacko's don't obey laws ..The type of AR that the police use are the military kind that can fire in full automatic mode ..these are real assault rifles and are illegal for civilians to own without a very hard to get special federal permit.

And BTW ..yes a 223 semi automatic rifle would be more effective at a distance,then say a 9mm, but at close range one would be just as devastating as the other....And a shotgun would be even more devastating...Gun control would have not prevented any of those horrific mass shootings...and gun control is not the answer, but wacko and criminal control is.

He is a good kid! it was the other kid not mine kid. a good kid that beat and old man to death now where does this even sound right? and the father said I'm just happy they got him with out hurting him. there is the key right there. they care about there family. not the family lost his son cause

What if we do this, take away all government help, to any ones family that is in a gang that kills some one. They don’t seem to care about going to jail, it’s a joke to them. So what if there social security, there food stamps, there welfare, was cut off to there families. This would make them understand that they are not just hurting the family of the person they killed, but there own family. This would make there family’s, make sure they were not in the gang. Put a little skin in the game, it would change the way they think.

Where is the part of the video that talks more on the bulletproof doors? They have the 2 minute+ on the shields but the interview with the bulletproof door guy was missing. Ben Furguson graphic starts with doors but not the shields.....

What if we do this, take away all government aid, to any ones family that is in a gang that killed some one. They don’t seem to care about going to jail, it’s a joke to them. So what if there social security, there food stamps, there welfare, was cut off, to there families. This would make them understand that they are not just hurting the family of the person they killed, but there own family. This would make there family’s, make sure they were not in the gang. Put a little skin in the game, it would change the way they think now wouldn’t it.

They can win back aid and other benefits by turning in gang members that have killed.

want to end the killing by guns this is how you do it. with out taking away guns from people who are not killers. If this is not the way what is? nothing is working. This could also work with act the of bullying. Its funny how people will do for there own family.

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